Gerald Fenech ‘Reati’, a new series which will shortly start Tuesday evenings on TVM, will focus on some famous and not-so famous criminal cases of the past.
AAB Films, spearheaded by brothers Adam and Andrew Bonello, have created what can only be termed as a high-class production, with the first of six episodes going on air on May 2.
Andrew Bonello has high hopes for the project, which is quite a first of its kind in its format – although something similar was tried a few years ago with the series ‘Delitti f’Malta’, which concentrated exclusively on murder cases.
“We had just finished a series of documentaries on the Sahara Desert for world viewing, and which was very well received, but due to unforeseen circumstances we were faced with a gap year in filming and decided to embark on this project just for fun really.” Bonello explains that ‘Reati’ was born out of a discussion with the noted crime historian Eddie Attard, who also acts as the presenter for the series.
“But we also have a number of legal experts who give their opinions after each particular case”, Bonello said, adding that the series is sponsored by Edwards & Lowell Co Ltd.
Each episode is divided into three crimes, with a particular theme running through the cases presented. The first episode deals with infanticides, the second is on murders of women and women in the dock, the third focus on children’s murders, the fifth, crimes of passion and the sixth deals with prosecution immunity.
“We are an independent company which prides itself on high quality productions and an almost obsessive attention to detail. Basically, we have taken the excerpts from Eddie Attard’s seminal book ‘Delitti f’Malta’ and rewritten them for television. We also used an innovative casting process were the bulk of those taking part are new faces who showed great enthusiasm for the project. Where possible we used original locations for filming and have inserted period photographs in the episode intros to create an authentic feel. All music used is originally composed for the series by my brother Adam, who is a qualified sound engineer and has also written several soundtracks for foreign productions.”
A sneak preview of the first episode was quite revealing with the narration by well-known producer and presenter George Peresso animating the docu-drama which is filmed in a 1920’s-style retro silent mode – a highly appropriate medium for the case which occurred in 1899.
‘Reati’ promises to be a hit and will undoubtedly create considerable interest in the genre. The Bonello brothers plan a further six episodes for the winter schedule but first there is more than enough top whet the appetite till the end of June.
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